Telephone communication method and system

ABSTRACT

The invention concerns telecommunications methods and systems, and more particularly methods and systems for enabling respondents, who may be potential customers, to respond to advertisements for items (goods or services) advertised by or on behalf of advertisers. Telecommunications methods and systems of the invention provide selective communication routing or forwarding to advertisers of communications made to anonymous contact identifiers selected from a pool of anonymous contact identifiers, each anonymous contact identifier able to be allocated to an item to be advertised by or on behalf of the advertiser. The anonymous contact identifier is a public telephone number or an email address, for example. The service is provided by way of hosted system for use by a plurality of advertisers. The invention has particular application in the area of classified or personal advertising in printed or online publications, such as for real estate, automotive, travel or job advertising, for sale or auction item advertising, or for dating agency advertising.

INTRODUCTION

The present invention concerns telecommunications methods and systems,and more particularly methods and systems for enabling respondents, whomay be potential customers, to respond to advertisements for items(goods or services) advertised by or on behalf of advertisers.

BACKGROUND TO THE INVENTION

Call redirection is an increasingly common feature of the present daytelecommunications market, and exchange switches can be set toautomatically route incoming calls (e.g. customer enquiries) todesignated parties if required.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In general terms, the present invention aims to provide a service forenabling response to advertisements, such as classified or displayclassified advertisements—in publications, and to this end there areprovided telecommunications methods and systems providing selectivecommunication routing or forwarding to advertisers of communicationsmade to anonymous contact identifiers selected from a pool of anonymouscontact identifiers, each anonymous contact identifier able to beallocated to an item to be advertised by or on behalf of the advertiser.

The anonymous contact identifier may be a publicly accessible telephonenumber or an email address, for example.

In accordance with one aspect of the invention, there is provided, atelecommunications method using a telecommunication system for enablingdelivery of third party promotional prompts to respondents responding toadvertisements for items advertised by or on behalf of advertisers,comprising the steps of:

-   -   allocating an anonymous contact identifier (ACI) from a pool of        ACI's to an item to be advertised by or on behalf of an        advertiser;    -   storing said ACI and associated advertiser contact details;    -   storing information relating to said item to be advertised;    -   forwarding said ACI for provision to respondents in association        with one or more advertisements for said item;    -   receiving a communication from a respondent to said ACI;    -   providing a third party promotional prompt to the respondent,        the prompt selected in accordance with the stored information        relating to the advertised item; and    -   routing or forwarding the communication to said advertiser using        said associated advertiser contact details.

Preferably, the third party promotional prompt is also selected inaccordance with an attribute of the respondent.

Preferably, the method includes the step of, before routing orforwarding the communication to said advertiser, providing a third partypromotional prompt to the advertiser.

Preferably, the method further includes the steps of:

-   -   storing contact details for a third party associated with the        promotional prompt; and    -   providing the respondent and/or the advertiser with means to        selectively initiate direct communication with said third party        associated with the promotional prompt.

Preferably, the ACI is an allocated telephone number, in which case thecommunication from a respondent to said ACI is a telephone call from arespondent caller dialing the allocated telephone number, and saidpromotional prompt is the playback of a recorded telephoneadvertisement. The ACI may also comprise a telephone number incombination with a PIN or reference number, which may be entered, afterdialing, or (optionally) at the time of dialing.

Alternatively, or in addition, the ACI is an allocated email address, inwhich case the communication from a respondent to said ACI is an emailmessage sent from a respondent to the allocated email address, and saidpromotional prompt is the provision to the respondent of an electronicadvertisement.

According to another aspect of the invention, there is provided atelecommunications system for enabling delivery of third partypromotional prompts to respondents responding to advertisements foritems advertised by or on behalf of advertisers, the system including:

-   -   a repository containing a pool of anonymous contact identifiers        (ACI);    -   a first telecommunications unit configured to:        -   receive as input an advertisement identifier and related            advertiser contact details;        -   forward as output, in response to receipt of an            advertisement identifier, an allocated ACI;    -   an allocation unit to allocate an ACI from the repository to the        advertisement identifier,    -   a database for storing said allocated ACI in association with        the advertiser contact details and information relating to said        advertised item;    -   a database for storing third party promotional prompts;    -   a second telecommunications unit to receive communications made        to the ACI and to access on the database the stored advertiser        contact details and information relating to said advertised        item;    -   a promotional prompt serving unit to select a stored third party        promotional prompt in accordance with information relating to        said advertised item and to provide said promotional prompt in        response to the received communication;    -   a communications routing or forwarding unit to route or forward        the communication in accordance with the stored advertiser        details.

Preferably, the system further includes a database for storing contactdetails for a third party associated with the promotional prompt, saidsecond telecommunications unit including means for using said thirdparty contact details for providing direct connection with said thirdparty associated with the promotional prompt.

In accordance with a further aspect of the invention, there is provideda telecommunications method using a telecommunication system forenabling respondents to respond to advertisements for items advertisedby or on behalf of advertisers, comprising the steps of:

-   -   allocating an anonymous contact identifier (ACI) from a pool of        ACI's to an item to be advertised by or on behalf of an        advertiser;    -   storing said ACI;    -   (optionally) associating said ACI with a status, the status able        to be updated and (optionally) corresponding to whether said        item is available for sale or not available for sale;    -   (optionally) storing said status;    -   forwarding said ACI for provision to respondents in association        with one or more advertisements for said item;    -   receiving a communication from a respondent to said ACI; and    -   managing the communication (optionally) in accordance with the        stored status associated with the ACI.

Preferably, the method includes:

-   -   routing or forwarding the communication to said advertiser if        the status indicates that the item associated with the ACI is        available for sale; or    -   providing a message to the respondent if the status indicates        that the item associated with the ACI is not available for sale.

Preferably, the method further includes the step of, before routing orforwarding the communication to said advertiser, providing a third partypromotional prompt to the respondent.

Preferably, the method further includes the step of, before routing orforwarding the communication to said advertiser, providing a third partypromotional prompt to the advertiser.

Preferably, the promotional prompt is selected in accordance with,prescribed rules.

More preferably, the promotional prompt is the playback of a recordedtelephone advertisement.

Preferably the method further includes the step of selectivelyconnecting the respondent or advertiser with a third party associatedwith the promotional prompt.

The ACI may be an allocated telephone number, and the communication froma respondent to said ACI may be a telephone call from a respondentcaller dialing the allocated telephone number. The ACI may also comprisea telephone number in combination with a PIN or reference number, whichmay be entered after dialing, or (optionally) at the time of dialing.

Alternatively, the ACI may be an allocated email address, and thecommunication from a respondent to said ACI may be an email message sentfrom a respondent to the allocated email address.

The step of forwarding the ACI for provision to respondents preferablycomprises providing the ACI to the advertiser or to a partner partyrepresenting one or more advertisers, so enabling the advertiser or thepartner party to make the ACI available to the public.

Preferably, on allocating an ACI to an item to be advertised, the methodincludes associating the ACI with a prescribed lifetime and, once thelifetime has expired, making the ACI available for allocating to adifferent item to be advertised.

In a preferred form, the status is able to be updated by or on behalf ofthe advertiser or a partner party representing one or more advertisers.

The ACI and the associated status are preferably stored in a database ator accessible by a system controller station, and the communication froma respondent to the ACI is received by the system controller station.The database may comprise two or more database subsets.

In a preferred form, the method includes the step of storing, on thedatabase, a plurality of ACIs, each ACT stored in association with anitem, a status, and advertiser contact details to enable the routing orforwarding of the communication to the advertiser.

Said advertiser contact details, then, may comprise one or moreadvertiser telephone numbers or one or more advertiser email addresses,for example, and the step of routing or forwarding the communication tosaid advertiser is carried out in accordance with the stored advertisercontact details, such as diverting a telephone call to an advertisertelephone number, or forwarding a received email to an advertiser emailaddress.

The allocation of an ACI to a particular item may take the form ofassociating the ACI with an item identifier code.

In a preferred form, the allocation of the ACI from a pool of ACIs to anitem to be advertised has a prescribed lifetime, and the prescribedlifetime is stored in said database. The prescribed lifetime may takethe form of an expiry date or time.

The status corresponding to the item not being available for sale may bean indication that the item has been sold, or may be an indication thatthe prescribed lifetime of the allocation of the ACI to the item hasexpired, in which case the ACI is available for allocation to anotheritem. Preferably, if the status associated with the ACI corresponds tothe item not being available for sale, a message is returned to therespondent in accordance with whether the status represents anindication that the item has been sold or an indication that theprescribed lifetime of the allocation of the ACI to the item hasexpired.

Each ACI in the pool may therefore always be associated with a status,the status changing to dynamically provide a representation of whetheror not it is allocated to an item, and if so allocated, whether thatitem is available for sale or has been sold.

In one form of the invention, the pool of ACIs is uniquely associatedwith a partner party, at least for a certain period, the partner partyrepresenting one or more advertisers, such that during that period theACI can only be allocated to an item advertised by or on behalf of anadvertiser represented by said partner party. Preferably, said pool is asub-pool of a total pool of ACIs.

Preferably, the method includes enabling the partner party or theadvertiser to selectively update the status of the ACI.

In addition, the method includes enabling the partner party or theadvertiser to selectively update the prescribed lifetime of theallocation to the item to be advertised.

In addition or alternatively, the method includes enabling the partnerparty or the advertiser to provide or modify the message provided to therespondent if the status indicates that the item is not available forsale.

In a preferred form, the method comprises the steps of:

-   -   storing a list of communication line identifiers (CLIs) of        respondents which are to be precluded from access to the        advertiser,    -   on receiving a communication from a respondent to the ACI,        recognising the CLI of the respondent;    -   comparing the CLI with entries on the list of precluded CLIs;    -   denying routing or forwarding of the communication to the        advertiser if the respondent's CLI is on the list; and    -   allowing routing or forwarding of the communication to the        advertiser if the respondent's CLI is not on the list.

In the case where the ACI is a telephone number, for example, thecommunication from a respondent is a telephone call, and the CLIs aretelephone call line numbers. Alternatively, if the ACI is an e-mailaddress, the communication from a respondent is an email message, andthe CLIs are originating email addresses.

In this form of the invention, the list of precluded CLIs may beassociated with the pool of ACIs, or may be exclusively associated withthe particular ACI allocated to the item.

Preferably, the method includes enabling a partner party or theadvertiser to selectively update said list of precluded CLIs.

In this way, a partner party (such as a publisher of printed or onlineadvertisements for individual advertisers) may selectively preventcompetitors from contacting advertisers by way of the allocated ACIs.Similarly, a partner party or an advertiser may selectively, prevent aparticular respondent from contacting the advertiser, e.g. if theparticular respondent has been identified as known for wanton mischiefor other nefarious activity.

The method may include preparing one or more reports includinginformation selected from the group of number of ACIs allocated from thepool of ACIs, number of communications made to ACIs from the pool,length of communications made to ACIs from the pool, and revenue accruedby communications made to ACIs from the pool, and providing said one ormore reports to an advertiser or to a partner party representing one ormore advertisers.

In accordance with a further aspect of the invention, there is providedin a telecommunications system providing selective communication routingor forwarding to advertisers of communications made by respondents toanonymous contact identifiers (ACIs)—which may be telephone numbers oremail addresses, for example selected from a pool of ACIs, each ACI ableto be allocated to an item to be advertised by or on behalf of theadvertiser, a method of associating a sub-pool of said pool of ACIs witha partner party representing one or more advertisers, such that the ACIcan only be allocated to an item advertised by or on behalf of anadvertiser represented by said partner party.

The partner party may be the advertiser himself, in which case the ACIcan only be allocated to an item advertised by or on behalf of thatadvertiser.

Preferably, this aspect of the invention comprises providing saidpartner party with an interface with the telecommunications systemenabling the partner party to modify a status associated with said ACI;the status serving to control whether or not a received communicationmade to the ACI is routed or forwarded to the advertiser of the item.The status may further serve to control whether, if a receivedcommunication is not routed or forwarded to the advertiser of the item,a message is provided to the respondent indicating that the item is nolonger available or that the ACI is not allocated to an item.

Preferably, the interface enables the partner party to customise themessage received by the respondent in accordance with the statusassociated with the ACI, if the ACI is in the sub-pool of said pool ofACIs associated with the partner party.

In accordance with another aspect of the invention, there is provided atelecommunication method using a telecommunication system providingselective call routing to advertisers of telephone calls made totelephone numbers selected from a pool of telephone numbers, eachtelephone number able to be allocated to an item to be advertised by oron behalf of the advertiser, the method comprising associating asub-pool of said pool of telephone numbers with a partner partyrepresenting one or more advertisers, such that the telephone number canonly be allocated to an item advertised by or on behalf of an advertiserrepresented by said partner party.

In accordance with yet a further aspect of the invention, there isprovided a method of using a list of communication line identifiers(CLIs) of respondents which are to be precluded from access to anadvertiser, for use with a telecommunications system providing selectivecommunication routing or forwarding to advertisers of communicationsmade to anonymous contact identifiers (ACIs) selected from a pool ofACIs, each ACI able to be allocated to an item to be advertised by or onbehalf of the advertiser, the method comprising the steps of:

-   -   on receiving a communication from a respondent to the ACI,        recognising the CLI of the respondent;    -   comparing the CLI with entries on the list of precluded CLIs;    -   denying routing or forwarding of the communication to the        advertiser if the respondent's CLI is on the list; and    -   allowing routing or forwarding of the communication to the        advertiser if the respondent's CLI is not on the list.

In this way, the system may be used to protect advertisers from accessby competitors canvassing advertisers for business.

Preferably, the method includes the step of, in response to receiving acommunication from a respondent whose CLI is on the list of precludedCLIs, providing a message to the respondent. The message may be a storedmessage, and may be selected from a plurality of different storedmessage in accordance with the CLI of the respondent.

In a preferred form, this aspect of the invention may be carried out incombination with other aspects of the invention, enabling the partnerparty to create a list of precluded CLIs, and to associate said listwith the sub-pool of ACIs so that any communication made to ACI in saidsub-pool and received from a respondent whose CLI is on the precludedlist is denied routing or forwarding to the advertiser.

The method may therefore comprise the step of associating a sub-pool ofsaid pool of ACIs with a partner party representing one or moreadvertisers, such that the ACI can only be allocated to an itemadvertised by or on behalf of an advertiser represented by said partnerparty.

Preferably, said partner party is provided with an interface with thecommunications system enabling the partner party to modify a statusassociated with said ACI, the status serving to control whether or not areceived communication made to the ACT is normally to be routed orforwarded to the advertiser of the item.

In a preferred form, the interface enables the partner party to modifythe list of precluded CLIs.

Additionally or alternatively, the status further serves to controlwhether, if a received communication is not routed or forwarded to theadvertiser of the item, a message is provided to the respondentindicating that the item is no longer available or that the ACI used isnot allocated to an item.

Additionally or alternatively, the interface enables the partner partyto customise the message received by the respondent in accordance withthe status associated with the ACI, if the ACI is in the sub-pool ofsaid pool of telephone numbers associated with the partner party.

In accordance with another aspect of the invention, there is provided atelecommunications method for enabling respondents to respond toadvertisements for items advertised by or on behalf of advertisers,including the steps carried out by a computer system of:

-   -   receiving an advertisement identifier and contact details for an        advertiser from a user,    -   receiving a request from the user for an allocation of an        anonymous contact identifier (ACI) from a pool of available ACIs        to the advertisement identifier;    -   providing said allocated ACI to the user, the ACI to be        published along with the advertisement represented by said        advertisement identifier;    -   receiving from the user one or more input requests for setting        on said system a status associated with said allocated ACI;    -   receiving a communication to the ACI from a respondent        responding to said advertisement; and    -   routing or forwarding the communication in accordance with the        contact details of the advertiser only if the status of the ACI        at the time of receipt of the communication is set to allow such        routing or forwarding.

The user and the advertiser may be the same party, or associatedparties. The user may be a partner party representing a plurality ofadvertisers, such as an advertising house, advertisement facilitator, orpublisher, the partner party responsible for publishing theadvertisement represented by said advertisement identifier.

In accordance with another aspect of the invention, there is provided atelecommunications system for enabling respondents to respond toadvertisements for items advertised by or on behalf of advertisers, thesystem comprising:

-   -   a repository containing a pool of anonymous contact identifiers        (ACIs);    -   a first telecommunications unit configured to:        -   receive as input an advertisement identifier and related            advertiser contact details;        -   (optionally) receive as input status update requests; and        -   forward as output, in response to receipt of an            advertisement identifier, an allocated ACI;    -   an allocation unit to allocate an ACI from the repository to the        advertising identifier;    -   a database for storing said allocated ACI in association with        the advertiser contact details and (optionally) a status value;    -   (optionally) a status update unit to receive as input from the        first telecommunications unit status update requests and,        accordingly, to modify the stored status value in the database;    -   a second telecommunications unit to receive communications made        to the ACI and to access on the database (optionally) the stored        status value and advertiser contact details;    -   a communications routing or forwarding unit to route or forward        the communication in accordance with the stored advertiser        contact details and (optionally) the stored status value.

In one form, the ACI is a telephone number, the communication from arespondent to said ACI is a telephone call from a respondent callerdialing the allocated telephone number, and the secondtelecommunications unit is a telephony unit.

In an alternative form, the ACI is an email address, the communicationfrom a respondent to said ACI is an email message sent from a respondentto the allocated email address, and the second telecommunications unitis an email receiving unit.

Preferably, the system further includes means to associate the allocatedACI with a prescribed lifetime and means for making the ACI availablefor allocation to a different advertisement identifier once the lifetimehas expired.

In accordance with a further aspect of the invention, there is provideda telecommunications system for providing selective communicationrouting or forwarding to advertisers of communications made to anonymouscontact identifiers (ACIs) selected from a pool of ACIs, each ACI ableto be allocated to an item to be advertised by or on behalf of theadvertiser, the system configured to preclude access to advertisers by aselected group of respondents identified by way of communication lineidentifiers (CLIs), comprising:

-   -   a CLI store containing a list of CLIs associated with selected        respondents to be precluded from access to one or more        advertisers;    -   a telecommunications unit for receiving a communication from a        respondent to the ACI, including a recognition means for        recognising the CLI of the respondent;    -   a comparison means for comparing the CLI with entries on the        list of precluded CLIs;    -   a telecommunications routing or forwarding unit configured to:        -   deny routing or forwarding of the communication to the            advertiser if the respondent's CLI is on the list; and        -   allow routing or forwarding of the communication to the            advertiser if the respondent's CLI is not on the list.

In one form, the ACI is a telephone number, the communication from arespondent to said ACI is a telephone call from a respondent callerdialing the allocated telephone number, and the secondtelecommunications unit is a telephony unit. The ACI may also comprise atelephone number in combination with a PIN or reference number, whichmay be entered after dialing, or (optionally) at the time of dialing.

In an alternative form, the ACI is an email address, the communicationfrom a respondent to said ACI is an email message sent from a respondentto the allocated email address, and the second telecommunications unitis an email receiving unit.

Preferably, the system includes an interface configured to enable thepartner party to modify a status associated with said ACI, the statusserving to control whether or not a received communication made to theACI is normally to be routed or forwarded to the advertiser of the item.

In a preferred form, the system includes a stored message unit, and thestatus further serves to control whether, if a received communication isnot routed or forwarded to the advertiser of the item, a message isprovided from the stored message unit to the respondent indicating thatthe item is no longer available or that the ACI used is not allocated toan item.

Additionally or alternatively, the interface is further configured toenable the partner party to modify the list of precluded CLIs.

In accordance with another aspect of the invention, there is provided ina telecommunications system providing selective communication routing orforwarding to advertisers of communications made by respondents toanonymous contact identifiers (ACIs)—which may be telephone numbers oremail addresses, for example—selected from a pool of ACIs, each ACI ableto be allocated to an item to be advertised by or on behalf of theadvertiser, a method of providing a partner party with an interface withthe telecommunications system enabling the partner party to modify astatus associated with said ACI, the status serving to control whetheror not a received communication made to the ACI is routed or forwardedto the advertiser of the item, the method comprising sending a messagevia HTTP in a data content message format.

The data content message format is preferably XML.

In accordance with this or any other aspect of the invention, themessage may be a status update request type selected from the group of<Allocate> and <SetSold>, wherein:

-   -   <Allocate> instructs the system to allocate for a prescribed        lifetime an ACI from said pool of ACIs to an item and to        associate the ACI with contact details for the advertiser of the        item; and    -   <SetSold> instructs the system to modify the status associated        with the allocated ACI and to deny routing or forwarding to the        advertiser, of the item of communications made to that ACT.

The message may be a rule update request type selected from the group of<Edit> and <Extend>, wherein:

-   -   <Edit> instructs the system to modify the advertiser contact        details associated with the item; and    -   <Extend> instructs the system to modify the lifetime of the        allocation of the ACI to the item.

The status update request or the rule update request is preferablyincorporated in one or more tags forming part of said data contentmessage format.

The method may include enabling said partner party to forward a batch ofstatus update requests and/or rule update requests. The batch ofrequests may be provided in the form of an input file forwarded to thesystem by way of the FTP protocol. In response to receiving andprocessing a batch of requests, the system may include forwarding to thepartner party a batch of allocated ACIs and/or modification requestconfirmation messages. Such a response batch is preferably sent to thepartner party as an output file in CSV (comma separated value) formatand by way of the FTP protocol or as an email attachment, for example.

According to another aspect of the invention there is provided acomputer-readable medium having computer-executable instructions forperforming a method using a telecommunication system for enablingrespondents to respond to advertisements for items advertised by or onbehalf of advertisers, the method comprising the steps of:

-   -   allocating an anonymous contact identifier (ACI) from a pool of        ACI's to an item to be advertised by or on behalf of an        advertiser,    -   storing said ACI;    -   (optionally) associating said ACI with a status, the status able        to be updated and (optionally) corresponding to whether said        item is available for sale or not available for sale;    -   (optionally) storing said status;        forwarding said ACI for provision to respondents in association        with one or more advertisements for said item;    -   receiving a communication from a respondent to said ACI; and    -   managing the communication (optionally) in accordance with the        stored status associated with the ACI.

Preferably, the computer-readable medium includes computer-executableinstructions for:

-   -   routing or forwarding the communication to said advertiser if        the status indicates that the item associated with the ACI is        available for sale; or    -   providing a message to the respondent if the status indicates        that the item associated with the ACI is not available for sale.

Preferably, the computer-readable medium includes computer-executableinstructions for:

-   -   storing a list of communication line identifiers (CLIs) of        respondents which are to be precluded from access to the        advertiser,    -   on receiving a communication from a respondent to the ACI,        recognising the CLI of the respondent        comparing the CLI with entries on the list of precluded CLIs;    -   denying routing or forwarding of the communication to the        advertiser if the respondent's CLI is on the list; and    -   allowing routing or forwarding of the communication to the        advertiser if the respondent's CLI is not on the list.

According to another aspect of the invention, there is provided acomputer-readable medium having computer-executable instructions forperforming a method using a list of communication line identifiers(CLIs) of respondents which are to be precluded from access to anadvertiser, for use with a telecommunications system providing selectivecommunication routing or forwarding to advertisers of communicationsmade to anonymous contact identifiers (ACIs) selected from a pool ofACIs, each ACI able to be allocated to an item to be advertised by or onbehalf of the advertiser, the method comprising the steps of

-   -   on receiving a communication from a respondent to the ACI,        recognising the CLI of the respondent;    -   comparing the CLI with entries on the list of precluded CLIs;    -   denying routing or forwarding of the communication to the        advertiser if the respondent's CLI is on the list; and    -   allowing routing or forwarding of the communication to the        advertiser if the respondent's CLI is not on the list.

According to a further aspect of the invention, there is provided acomputer-readable medium having computer-executable instructions forperforming a method using a telecommunication system for enablingdelivery of third party promotional prompts to respondents responding toadvertisements for items advertised by or on behalf of advertisers,comprising the steps of:

-   -   allocating an anonymous contact identifier (ACI) from a pool of        ACI's to an item to be advertised by or on behalf of an        advertiser;    -   storing said ACI and associated advertiser contact details;    -   storing information relating to said item to be advertised;    -   forwarding said ACI for provision to respondents in association        with one or more advertisements for said item;    -   receiving a communication from a respondent to said ACI;    -   providing a third party promotional prompt to the respondent,        the prompt selected in accordance with the stored information        relating to the advertised item; and    -   routing or forwarding the communication to said advertiser using        said associated advertiser contact details.

According to yet a further aspect of the invention there is provided atelephone communication method for enabling callers to respond toadvertisements for items advertised by or on behalf of advertisers,comprising the steps of:

-   -   allocating a virtual telephone number from a pool of virtual        telephone numbers to an item to be advertised by or on behalf of        an advertiser;    -   storing said virtual telephone number and an association between        the virtual telephone number and telephone contact details for        the advertiser,    -   (optionally) associating said virtual telephone number with a        status, the status able to be updated and (optionally)        corresponding to whether said item is available for sale or not        available for sale;    -   (optionally) storing said status;    -   forwarding said virtual telephone number for provision to        potential callers in association with one or more advertisements        for said item;    -   receiving a call from a caller dialing the virtual telephone        number, and, (optionally) in accordance with the stored status        and stored telephone contact details:    -   routing the call to the advertiser if the status indicates that        the item associated with the virtual telephone number is        available for sale, or    -   providing a message to the caller if the status indicates that        the item associated with the telephone number called is not        available for sale.

Preferably, the allocation of the virtual telephone number from the poolof virtual telephone numbers to an item to be advertised has aprescribed lifetime, and the status corresponding to the item not beingavailable for sale represents one of:

-   -   an indication that the item has been sold; and    -   an indication that the prescribed lifetime of the allocation of        the virtual telephone number to the item has expired, in which        case the virtual telephone number is available for allocation to        another item.

In accordance with the invention, then, the service automaticallyassigns an anonymous contact identifier, such as a publicly accessibletelephone number (referred to herein as a virtual number) via its hostedplatform to a customer, normally an advertiser, for a predeterminedlifetime.

It is to be noted that an advertised item may be a good or service, ormay be a group of goods or services, or a combination of goods andservices. The advertiser may be an individual, e.g. a person selling anitem by way of a classified advertisement in a printed publication or ona website, or offering an item by way of a hosted online auction site.Alternatively, the advertiser may be an organisation, such as a realestate agency or employment agency, which may be offering a plurality ofitems (properties for sale or rent, for example, or job vacancies to befilled) in a printed or online publication, in which case each item(which may be a group of items) is advertised with a separate AC.

The ACI (such as a virtual telephone number) acts as a ‘front’ or‘proxy’ for the actual contact details (e.g. the telephone number(s)) ofthe advertiser, ensuring that they may be contactable but withoutexposing their private contact details, and thus having the potential tomaintain their anonymity if required. The ACI is associated with amapping to the status of the relevant advertisement.

The ACI may comprise one or more components that assist in retrieval ofinformation in a database. For example, in the case of virtual telephonenumber, a certain digit or digits of the number may be interpreted bythe system as representing a particular category of advertisements, ormay direct the retrieval process to particular subset of the database onwhich the information is stored.

It is to be noted that, preferably, the allocation of an ACI to aparticular item is temporary only, in accordance with the prescribedlifetime. This allows for re-use of ACIs from a finite pool of availableACIs, of particular relevance with regard to the use of virtualtelephone numbers, where the length of the number may provide anautomatic restriction on the number of available ACIs.

The skilled reader will appreciate that the invention provides a verydifferent approach to enabling controlled anonymous telephonecommunication between respondents and advertisers than those hithertocontemplated. In particular, rather than providing a telephone numberfor an advertiser, the particular advertisement identified by way of aparticular reference number, the invention includes the use of a pool ofdynamically re-allocatable virtual numbers (CLIs) for use by aparticular partner. The virtual numbers are automatically rotated to newadvertisements based on an algorithm designed around the lifespan of theadvertisements.

The invention extends to methods and/or apparatus substantially asherein described with reference to the accompanying drawings.

The invention also provides a computer program and a computer programproduct for carrying out any of the methods described herein and/or forembodying any of the apparatus or system features described herein, anda computer readable medium having stored thereon a program for carryingout any of the methods described herein and/or for embodying any of theapparatus features described herein.

The invention also provides a signal embodying a computer program forcarrying out any of the methods described herein and/or for embodyingany of the apparatus or system features described herein, a method oftransmitting such a signal, and a computer product having an operatingsystem which supports a computer program for carrying out any of themethods described herein and/or for embodying any of the apparatusfeatures described herein.

The invention extends to methods and/or apparatus substantially asherein described with reference to the accompanying drawings.

Any feature in one aspect of the invention, may be applied to otheraspects of the invention, in any appropriate combination. In particular,method aspects may be applied to apparatus aspects, and vice versa.

Furthermore, features implemented in hardware may generally beimplemented in software, and vice versa. Any reference to software andhardware features herein should be construed accordingly.

With all aspects of the invention, these may be provided in anyappropriate form, be it a ‘method’, ‘apparatus’, ‘system’, ‘storedcomputer instruction set’, etc. form. It will be appreciated that anyfeature of any aspect of the invention may apply to any other aspect ofthe invention.

This unique solution is of particular value to the advertisingmarketplace, and is described in more detail below.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

By way of illustration, the invention will now be described, purely byway of example, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 diagrammatically illustrates the architecture of the system ofthe invention;

FIG. 2 schematically illustrates the process of a virtual numberallocation request;

FIG. 3 schematically illustrates the process of updating the statusvalue of a virtual number from ‘ForSale’ to ‘Sold’;

FIG. 4 schematically illustrates the process of a request to edit storedinformation associated with an allocated virtual number;

FIG. 5 schematically illustrates the process of a request to extend theallocation of a virtual number;

FIG. 6 schematically illustrates the virtual number call process;

FIG. 7 schematically illustrates the processing of a call made by abarred CLI caller to a virtual number; and

FIG. 8 schematically illustrates the process of a third partypromotional prompt playback.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The service operates by allocating a virtual number against eachadvertiser's personal telephone number(s). Centrally to the presentinvention, at any time all virtual numbers are uniquely associated witha ‘stage of sale’ status that determines what action the service is toinitiate when the virtual number is dialed. A virtual number may be inany one of three states:

-   -   For Sale—This implies the number is live and associated with an        advertisement. When called, the platform will attempt to reach        the advertiser and connect the caller.    -   Sold—This implies that the number is live but the item        associated with the advertisement is no longer available for        sale. When a number assigned this state is dialed, the caller        will receive playback of a prescribed voice message, and the        system will not attempt to route the incoming call to the        advertiser. Even though an advertisement may still be in the        public domain (i.e. the advertisement may still be visible to        potential customers after the product is sold), the advertiser        (for example, the owner) will no longer receive calls about an        item which is no longer available.    -   Unassigned—This implies a virtual number is not associated with        an advertiser, i.e. it has either never been allocated, or its        allocation has passed the end of its lifetime, and it is now        available to be reassigned to a new advertisement for a        predetermined lifetime.

FIG. 1 diagrammatically illustrates the high level platform architecturedeveloped for the invention, and the following explanation describes thevirtual number status and its support in more detail.

Hosted Platform

At the core of the virtual number service is a hosted platform 10, wherethe software resides which allows the dynamic allocation of telephonenumbers and is the interface between the advertising companies and theircustomers. Each advertising company can be seen as a ‘partner’(reference 20) of the facilitator entity running the hosted system, oras a ‘tenant’ of the hosted platform 10. Since the service is hosted,the advertising companies do not require any hardware on their premisesor directly under their control in order to assign virtual numbers toadvertisements. The advertising companies communicate with the platformvia specially designed publicly accessible interfaces.

The platform provides a reliable, fully redundant, and scalable system,and is comprised of three interconnected primary components:

Telephony Servers 130—These route callers to advertisers based on thestatus of the virtual number, which is accessed via the database. Callsfrom callers are received by way of external telephony carrier switches30 via circuitry 150.

Database Servers 120—These comprise an oracle database and secure FTPrepository, and contain all virtual number pools, status and attributevalues, and actual advertiser telephone numbers.

Web Communication Servers 110—This web server farm enables communication(via the Internet 140) with the advertising company tenants 20, and alsoenable manipulation of virtual number attribute values.

The platform 10 and its interrelation between all of its component'salgorithms, business logic and database schema has been fully designedand internally implemented and tested by the applicant.

Platform Publicly Accessible Interfaces

The platform supports three publicly accessible interfaces forcommunicating with advertising partners to afford allocation of virtualnumbers and manipulation of their status.

1. HTTP XML Schema Interface: This interface supports partnersconnecting with the platform via HTTP and communicating using a uniquelydefined XML schema. The schema is included in the Appendix below.

2. Web Application Interface: A web based application is published bythe platform's web servers. Partners may access the interface by aninternet HTTP URL connection and logging in with their administratorusername and password.

3. Batch Processing Interface: A partner may supply a uniquelystructured CSV text file containing thousands of advertisements that theplatform parses and actions at predetermined scheduled intervals.

All three interfaces facilitate the following requests (described infurther detail below with reference to FIGS. 2-7):

Allocate: Ability to request a virtual number from a preconfigured poolof numbers by supplying a unique advertiser advertisement identifier,one or more contact telephone numbers, and an advertisement expiry date.All successful requests receive a live virtual number with the statusvalue automatically set to ‘For Sale’.

Edit: Ability to modify the contact phone number(s) associated with anexisting virtual number.

Extend: Ability to selectively extend the expiry date associated with avirtual number.

SetSold: Ability to change the status of a virtual number to ‘Sold’.

Expiry-Date: The applicant has developed a capability which allowsvirtual numbers to be assigned a lifetime which is determined by howlong the advertisement is to be in the public domain and is to beavailable to be called. This is controlled by the advertising company.When an advertisement's expiry date is reached, the status of thatnumber will automatically revert to ‘Unassigned’.

To ensure that virtual numbers are continuously recycled and madeavailable to adverts within a finite pool of numbers, an internallydesigned administration application is configured to continuouslymonitor the expiry dates of all virtual numbers. When a virtual numberhas expired the application automatically changes the status of thatvirtual number to ‘Unassigned’, thus making it available forreallocation. The expiry date attribute facilitates the ability toautomatically manage numbers within a finite pool.

Multi-Tenanted Service

The virtual number service of the invention is designed to bemulti-tenanted, whereby each tenant is assigned their own finite pool ofvirtual numbers, each to be reassigned to advertisements of that tenantas their status becomes ‘Unassigned’. This allows a relatively smallnumber of virtual numbers to be constantly recycled, which improvesefficiency of cost and utilisation. Each tenant, may set up or arrangefor personalised caller greetings that enable the playback of marketingmessages to callers to virtual numbers in their pool.

The platform 10 allocates each tenant their own unique virtual numberproxy service environment which contains the following information:

-   -   Affiliate Tenant Identifier    -   Finite Pool of numbers    -   Administration account and password    -   Customisable welcome greeting prompt    -   Customisable ‘advertiser not reachable’ prompt    -   Customisable ‘advertisement Sold’ prompt

All environments are stored in the database and accessed by thecommunication and telephony servers when virtual numbers are requestedor dialed. Furthermore, a pool of virtual numbers may be comprised ofany publicly accessible telephone numbers.

Caller Line Identification (CLI) Call Barring

The applicant has developed the capability to associate a list of barredCLIs specific to a virtual number pool. By way of the CLI, this servicerestricts access to advertisers from call sources (via CLI) the tenantwishes to bar from accessing their customer base. When the platformreceives a call from a barred originating number it will play anappropriate message and terminate the call.

The platform supports two interfaces for advertisers to manage lists ofbarred numbers, a web interface, and a web service applicationprogramming interface. Both support the creation, update, deletion andassignment of CLI's to a list of CLI barred numbers to one or more poolsof virtual numbers.

Operational Processes

FIG. 2 schematically illustrates the process of an allocation request,enabling allocation of a virtual number to an advertisement.

Allocate (Step 1)—The advertiser 20 issues an Allocate request to thevirtual number platform 10, via public interface 160 (comprising theInternet 140 and server 110) the request containing a uniqueadvertisement identifier for the advertisement (to enable readyrecognition by the advertiser), advertiser's contact telephone number(s)and selected expiry date/time.

Number Pool (Step 2)—The platform 10 selects a virtual number with astatus of Unassigned from the partner's number pool stored in thedatabase 120.

Virtual Number Status Update (Step 3)—The status of the selected virtualnumber in the database 120 is modified to ‘For Sale’ and is associatedin the database with the advertiser's contact telephone number(s) and,expiry date/time.

Return to partner (Step 4)—The virtual number associated with theadvertisement identifier is returned to the advertiser 20 and isimmediately available for publication by the advertiser.

From this point onwards, all calls to the virtual number will beautomatically redirected to the advertiser's contact telephone number ornumbers.

FIG. 3 schematically illustrates the SetSold process, representing therequest from the advertiser to update the status value of a virtualnumber, from ‘ForSale’ to ‘Sold’.

SetSold (Step 1)—Once the item advertised has been sold, the advertiser20 issues (via the public interface 160) a SetSold request to theplatform 10, the request containing either the virtual number or theassociated advertisement identifier.

Virtual Number Status Update (Step 2)—The platform 10 then modifies thestatus of the virtual number from ForSale to Sold within the number poolin the database 120.

Acknowledgement (Step 3)—The platform 10 responds to the partner with areturn status of success to confirm the updated status.

From this point onwards, all telephone calls to the virtual number willbe greeted with a customised message (as set or prescribed by theadvertiser) informing the caller that the item has been sold.

FIG. 4 schematically illustrates the process of an advertiser's editrequest, enabling the advertiser to update the following informationassociated with a previously allocated virtual number:

-   -   Contact telephone number(s)    -   Email address    -   Advertisement additional information

Edit Request (Step 1)—The advertising partner 20 issues (via the publicinterface 160) an edit request to the platform 10, the request includingeither a virtual number or the associated advertisement uniqueidentifier.

Virtual Number Status Update (Step 2)—The platform 10 modifies theinformation associated with the virtual number in the database 120.

Acknowledgement (Step 3)—The platform 10 responds to the partner 20 witha return status of success to confirm the updated status.

All subsequent telephone calls to the virtual number will be managed inaccordance with the updated database information.

FIG. 5 schematically illustrates the process of an extend request,enabling a partner to update the expiry date associated with apreviously allocated virtual number (e.g. to correspond to an extendedperiod for which the relevant item is advertised).

Extend Request (Step 1)—The advertising partner 20 issues (via thepublic interface 160) an extend request to the platform 10, the requestincluding either a virtual number or the associated advertisement uniqueidentifier.

Virtual Number Status Update (Step 2)—The platform 10 modifies theinformation associated with the virtual number in the database 120.

Acknowledgement (Step 3)—The platform 10 responds to the partner 20 witha return status of success to confirm the updated status.

All subsequent telephone calls to the modified virtual number will bemanaged in accordance with the updated expiry date stored withindatabase 120.

The following describes the virtual number call process, and theinternal call processing steps that, the platform 10 performs when avirtual number is called by a caller responding to an advertisement.FIG. 6 illustrates the process when a caller is not barred from using aparticular virtual number, whilst FIG. 7 illustrates the process when acaller is barred from using that number.

FIG. 6 schematically illustrates the virtual number call process,representing the internal call processing steps that the platform 10performs when a virtual number is called.

PSTN (Step 1)—Via the public switched telephone network, a caller 40dials a published virtual number that is terminated on platform 10, viatelephony servers 130. The call may originate from a cellular, PSTN orIP network.

Barred CLI Lookup (Step 2)—The CLI of the calling party 40 is checkedagainst the list of barred CLI numbers stored in the database 120, thelist associated with the virtual number dialed. If the caller 40 is notidentified as barred, the process advances to Step 3 below. If the CLIidentifies that caller 40 is barred, a prescribed message is played andthe call is terminated (see further description below with reference toFIG. 7).

Number Lookup (Step 3)—The platform 10 accesses properties of the numberdialed in the database 120 to determine what action (based on statusvalue) is to be taken with regard to the number called. As discussedabove, the actions associated with the status values are:

-   -   ForSale—The caller is played the stored advertiser's customised        welcome greeting and asked to wait on the line while the service        contacts the advertiser. See below for further detail.    -   Sold—The caller is played the stored Sold greeting, and the call        is terminated.    -   Unassigned—The caller is played the stored number-not-in-use        greeting, and the call is terminated.

Contact Advertiser (Step 4)—The platform 10 externally out dials insequence the contact telephone number(s) associated with the virtualnumber. If no answer is received, the platform informs the virtualnumber caller of the advertiser's unavailability and suggests they callback later.

Join Caller with Advertiser (Step 5)—If the advertiser 20 answers theoutdialed call, the two callers are automatically connected for two-waycommunication via the platform 10. To the caller 40, this appears to bea direct connection with advertiser 20, as represented in FIG. 6 at 50.

FIG. 7 schematically illustrates the call processing of a call made by abarred CLI caller to a virtual number.

PSTN (Step 1)—Via the public switched telephone network, a caller 40dials a published virtual number that is terminated on platform 10, viatelephony servers 130. The call may originate from a cellular, PSTN orIP network.

Barred CLI Lookup (Step 2)—The CLI of the calling party 40 is checkedagainst a list of barred CLI numbers stored in the database 120, thelist associated with the virtual number dialed.

Barred CLI Call (Step 3)—The caller 40 is identified as a barred callerand is played a prescribed message, customised by the partner. The callis then immediately terminated without involving contact with theadvertiser.

Advertising Promotional Prompt Sub-System

As illustrated schematically in FIG. 8, the system can include a furtherfunctionality to allow playing of third party promotional prompts, suchas advertising ‘jingles’, in order to facilitate additional revenuestreams for partners. This is of particular relevance in the context ofclassified advertisements, where both respondents (callers) andadvertisers are commonly individuals, the associated partner beingtypically an advertisement facilitator or publisher.

A promotional prompt, may be played to either or both the respondent 40and the advertiser 20 prior to routing the communication (ie. connectingthe two parties). A wide variety of promotional prompts may be targetedat one or both parties, in accordance with a variety of factors,including:

-   -   category of item for sale, eg. auto, health, furniture,        household, gardening etc.    -   location of advertiser    -   location of respondent, identified from geographical analysis of        CLI    -   gender of advertiser (male/female)    -   age of advertiser    -   time of call

In operation of a particular embodiment of this sub-system, when arespondent 40 calls the advertiser's virtual number, the platform 10includes programming to play a promotional prompt to the respondent, inaccordance with the content of the pertinent database 120. The promptmay be pre-selected in advance, or selected based on, say, the categoryof the advertisement or geographical location. The system then plays anadditional promotional prompt to the advertiser after they have answeredthe call prior to connecting the parties. For example, if theadvertisement is associated with a car the system may be programmed toplay the jingle of a selected insurance firm, whilst the jingle of aparticular holiday company is played to the advertiser.

The process steps illustrated in FIG. 8 are as follows:

PSTN (Step 1)—A caller 40 dials a published virtual number (ACI) that isterminated on platform 10 via telephony servers 130, eg. via the publicswitched telephone network. The call may originate from a cellular, PSTNor IP network.

Number Lookup (Step 2)—The status of the virtual number is determinedvia databases 120, to identify what action (based on state value) shouldbe taken with regard to the number and what promotional categories theadvert falls within.

Promotional prompt playback (Step 3)—A promotional prompt stored onplatform 10 is played to the respondent, based on rules in database 120.

Contact Advertiser (Step 4)—Via telephony servers 130, platform 10externally dials the contact telephone number associated with thevirtual number called (or, if multiple numbers, the platform dials thenumbers in sequence. If no answer is received, the platform informs therespondent of the advertiser's unavailability and suggests they callback later.

Promotional prompt playback (Step 5)—Platform 10 plays a promotionalprompt stored on the platform to the advertiser, based on stored rules.

Connect respondent to the advertiser (Step 6)—The two parties areconnected in the usual way via the platform (which appears to theparties to be a direct connection, as represented at 50).

Employing this sub-system, a classified advertising partner may create awide variety of additional revenue models based on any combination ofthe following:

-   -   A flat fee for promotional prompt playback    -   A charge per individual prompt playback    -   An online auction for specific category playback, in a similar        manner to the methodology used for positioning of advertising on        search engine results webpages    -   A group rate for rotation of selected promotional prompts

The sub-system is administered via a website interface which facilitatesthe uploading to the platform of soundfile promotional prompts and theirplayback definition: When a partner requests a virtual number from theplatform 10 they may also identify the advertising category orcategories into which the advert falls, in order to enablecategory-targeted prompt playback.

If the ACI is an allocated email address (as opposed to an allocatedtelephone number), then this aspect of the invention may be realised byproviding the promotional prompt as a screen advertisement to therespondent or advertiser (such as banner advertisements) or browser‘pop-up’ advertisements, the advertisement selected in accordance withrespondent or advertiser information or in accordance with the nature ofthe item advertised.

This aspect of the present invention may further include an interactivevoice response (IVR) menu (not illustrated), offering both parties theopportunity during the call to talk directly with the promotionaladvertiser (eg. the insurance firm whose jingle has been played). Inoperation, when either party selects (via DTMF entry or other) to talkwith the promotional advertiser the system is programmed to directlyconnect that party to the promotional company associated with the promptadvertisement. This may be accomplished directly while the caller is onthe call, or alternatively via a call-back after the call hasterminated. For example, if a respondent is played a promotional promptfrom a car insurance firm, they may at any stage instruct the platformto connect them directly to that firm to obtain an insurance quote forthe car that was advertised. In a similar manner, the advertiser mayelect to be connected to a holiday company after a sale has been agreedwith a respondent.

This IVR feature affords partners (such as publishers of classifiedadvertisements) a further potential additional revenue stream from theirclient base by offering a pay-per-response service, a charge applying toeach call lead presented to the promotional prompt advertiser.

Partner Integration

It will be clear to the skilled reader that there are a variety ofdifferent partner integration solutions that may be provided with thisservice. Two such solutions developed by the applicant are discussedbelow, by way of example.

1. Dynamic Allocation of Virtual Numbers

With this service a programming API is published by the administrator ofthe platform, enabling partners to dynamically request individualvirtual numbers over the Internet. This interface facilitates therequirement of companies to assign virtual numbers to advertisementsimmediately upon entry of details on their own websites.

As discussed above with reference to the accompanying process flowillustrations, the API functionality is as follows:

-   -   Assign—this assigns a virtual number to a calling partner's        contact details within the platform. The virtual number and        status of the operation are returned to the calling party. The        virtual number is immediately live.    -   Edit—this allows partner's to change the contact details        recorded against their previously assigned virtual numbers.    -   Stop—this terminates call forwarding from a particular virtual        number and facilitates the playing of a partner-specific prompt        to inform callers of same. The prompt played may be any message        the partner wishes to convey to callers after they try to        contact advertisers whose advertisements are no longer valid.    -   Extend—this extends the lifetime of virtual numbers associated        with advertisements. Note that the partner controls the lifetime        of all virtual numbers, and instigates when they should        terminate and be reissued to other adverts.

All communication with the API is executed over the public Internet viathe HTTP protocol. All transferred data is formatted in XML.

2. Batch Processing

With this service, the platform administrator agrees with a partner tobatch process the assignment of virtual numbers to large volumes ofcontacts at agreed predetermined times. Both parties define thestructure of the input data to the platform, as well as the output dataproduced by the platform, including the virtual numbers assigned to thepartner. After the platform completes processing the input data, it isthe responsibility of the partner to process the output file and topublish the appropriate virtual numbers (e.g. on their webadvertisements).

The transfer protocol used for the input and output files is ftp. It isthe responsibility of both the platform administrator and the partner toprovide secure ftp drop-points with file integrity checks. The types ofactions that may be input to the platform are as follows:

-   -   Assign—this assigns a virtual number to the contact details        supplied. This also includes the numbers expiry date when the        platform will cease to transfer calls.    -   Edit—this updates the contact details associated with an        existing virtual number.    -   Stop—this terminates the transfer of calls from a given virtual        number. The platform plays a partner-specific message when this        number is called.    -   Extend this extends the expiry date for an existing virtual        number.

Reporting

The platform can be configured to provide regular reporting to partners.For example, once a month all the partners are provided with twostandard reports that contain all revenue and call history details forthe previous month. The reports are:

-   -   1. Revenue Details—This summarises the total number of assigned        virtual numbers, calls terminated, minutes generated, and        revenue accrued by the partner over the selected period.    -   2. Call History—This lists all called virtual numbers, including        the number of calls and minutes generated by each. This report        may be customised to include additional partner-specific data        that may be associated with virtual numbers upon assignment.        This data may than be analysed by the partner, e.g. to determine        which type of adverts or services have generated the most        income.

In broad summary, the present invention provided a service for mediaowners running advertising (in particular, classified advertising) fromany visible media, be it printed, online, or other. The fully automatedservice provides a dedicated pool of telephone numbers for the specificmedia outlet. When a customer places an advertisement within that media,that advertisement can be allocated a telephone number from the mediaowner's pool for the lifetime of that advertisement. When called by arespondent, the number automatically diverts to the advertiser's owntelephone number(s), at no cost to the advertiser. Should the item besold or the advert not renewed, the number is withdrawn from use for aperiod, before returning to the pool, ready to be re-issued to a newadvertisement.

Further advantages and features of the invention include, separately orin combination:

-   -   Making this service available to each customer provides        immediate enhanced service levels. Moreover, a private number        for each advertisement gives privacy and security to customers        providing a value-added customer service and differentiating the        media owner from rivals.    -   The service can be set up such that a share of the net margin        from calls made to the advertisements by respondents can be        provided to the media owner, even for free advertisements,        providing a new revenue stream for users of the system.    -   Call reporting provides a detailed overview of calls in response        to advertisements, enabling the focusing of resources on the        most profitable areas.    -   Call report analysis also enables up-selling and cross-selling        opportunities, generating further incremental revenues.    -   Once it has been set up, the service is free to the media owner        and the advertiser, which is likely to encourage service uptake        and repeat business.    -   The ‘Set/Sold’ feature includes the provising of a recorded        message to the caller if the item is no longer available,        promoting exposure via a superior service level than hitherto        available.    -   In addition, the self-service functionality of the ‘Set/Sold’        feature means that advertisers can immediately ‘turn the advert        off’ and stop further unwanted calls as soon as the item is sold        or withdrawn.    -   Each respondent to an advert can be greeted with a personalised        message specific to the relevant publication in which the        advertisement appeared, thus enhancing service and supporting        the brand name and image.    -   If multiple advertiser telephone numbers are associated with a        particular virtual telephone number, the system can respond to        incoming calls by automatically ‘hunting’—eg. from a landline to        a mobile—so that the risk of advertisers missing calls is        significantly reduced, thus ensuring the advertiser has an        opportunity to engages all potential purchasers.

It will be clear to the skilled reader that the solution provided by thepresent invention has application in a wide variety of differentindustries. It has particular application in the area of classifiedadvertising in printed or online publications. For example:

-   -   Classified (or display classified) real estate, automotive or        job advertisements, in printed of online publications.    -   Individual classified advertisements, e.g. in ‘Trading        Post’-type printed or online publications for individuals        offering new and used items for sale.    -   Travel agent advertisements.    -   Hosted online auction offers.    -   Dating agency advertisements in printed or online publications.        The facilitator of the dating agency can enable a subscriber to        the dating service to be contactable only for the duration for        which subscription fees have been paid.

The above description relates specifically to telephone communicationbetween a caller and an advertiser. However, the skilled reader willreadily understand that other modes of communication are embraced by thepresent invention, such as email or SMS/TXT messaging.

By way of example of an alternative communication mode, the inventionmay be carried out utilising email communication between a potentialcustomer and an advertiser, wherein a ‘virtual email address’ from apool of email addresses is allocated to an item to be advertised, thevirtual email address being associated with a status, and being providedto potential customers in association with the advertisement(s) for theitem. Incoming emails are then managed in accordance with the storedstatus associated with the virtual email address used, the email routedto the advertiser if the status indicated that the item is available forsale, or a return email being provided if the status indicates that theitem is not available for sale.

Although preferred embodiments of the present invention are describedabove, many changes, modifications and substitutions may be made by oneof ordinary skill in the art without departing from the spirit and scopeof the invention.

Each feature disclosed in the description, the claims, and drawings maybe provided independently or in any appropriate combination.

APPENDIX XML Communication Schema

All streams of data passed between the partner and the platform are XMLcompliant, so any standard XML parser can be used. However, uniqueadditional requirements exist for those streams:

-   -   each line terminates with CR/LF (0x0d/0x0a)    -   no spaces or tabs allowed    -   <request> and </request>, <response> and </response> tags occupy        separate lines    -   data carrying tags should reside in separate line each and be        opened and closed at the same line    -   all data IS case sensitive    -   if field is empty, tags should exist (like this:        <field></field>)

All requests must start with tag <request> and close with tag</request>. Response begins with <response> and closes with </response>.

Common to all requests are the following XML fields:

-   -   f_affiliateID—affiliate ID of where the request comes from.        Value is always unique to a specific partner    -   f_requestType—request type, actually determine which        input/output parameters should be passed and which actions        should be taken.

The f_requestType field can be one of the following actions:

-   -   Allocate    -   SetSold    -   Edit    -   Extend

Allocate

This action will activate and assign a virtual number to a partner'sadvertisement. All fields are required, even if they are blank.

Additional XML input parameters are:

-   -   f_ID—optional unique advertisement identifier that may be up to        15 characters    -   f_phoneNumber1—mandatory, first phone number to call forward to    -   f_phoneNumber2—optional, second phone number to call forward to    -   f_expireDate—DDMMYYYY format. Optional. Allocated virtual number        will be kept in active state (redirecting calls) from allocation        moment until expired date midnight. (up to DDMMYYYY 24:00:00).        After expiry date it can be immediately reused.    -   f_durationInDays—Numeric representing days. This field is only        used when an expire date is not present. We take the present        date of the request and add the value of this field to it. This        in turn makes up the expire date of the number.    -   f_info—optional, may contain additional descriptive information        that may be useful for reports.    -   f_emailAddress—optional, only applies when messaging in        operation

Output Parameters:

-   -   f_status—mandatory (see status values)    -   f_virtualnumber—11 digit virtual number. It is empty if error        occurred.

SetSold

This action will set the state of a virtual number from ‘For Sale’ to‘Sold’, thus cancelling redirection and activating corresponding promptto inform subsequent callers that the advertisement is no longeravailable. All fields are required even if they are blank.

Input Parameter XML Fields:

-   -   f_virtualnumber—previously allocated virtual number, mandatory

Output Parameters:

-   -   f_status mandatory

Edit

This feature will permit the changing of advertiser telephone numbersthat are associated with an existing advert. All fields are requiredeven if they are blank.

Additional Input Parameters XML Fields:

-   -   f_virtualnumber—previously allocated virtual number, mandatory    -   f_phoneNumber1—mandatory    -   f_phoneNumber2—optional, second phone number to forward calls to    -   f_emailAddress—optional    -   f_info—optional

Output Parameters:

-   -   f_status—mandatory

Extend

This feature will set a new expiry date for an existing advertisementassociated with a virtual number. All fields are required even if theyare blank

Additional Input Parameter XML Fields:

-   -   f_virtualnumber—previously allocated virtual number, mandatory    -   f_expireDate—Optional (mandatory if f_durationInDays is empty).        DDMMYYYY format. Allocated virtual number will be kept in active        state (redirecting calls) from up to new expired date midnight.        (up to DDMMYYYY 24:00:00)    -   f_durationInDays—Optional (mandatory if f_expireDate is empty)

Output Parameters:

-   -   f_status—mandatory

Returned Status

All requests may return one of the following return codes:

-   -   0—success    -   1—reserved    -   2—platform server side error    -   3—reserved    -   4—phone number1 invalid    -   5—phone number2 invalid    -   6—no number in pool for Allocate operation, number expired or in        SetSold state for SetSold, Edit and Extend operations    -   7—wrong input data, can not parse XML.    -   8—non existing ID for SetSold, Edit and Extend operations

Maximum Parameter Lengths (in Characters)

-   -   f_ID—15 characters    -   f_affiliateID—8 characters    -   f_phoneNumber1 64 characters    -   f_phoneNumber2 64 characters    -   f_expireDate—8 (FIXED length)    -   f_durationInDays—2    -   f_status—1 (FIXED length)    -   f_info—16 characters    -   f_emailAddress—64 characters

The formal description of a virtual number request sent by a partner tothe platform is as follows:

  Request = RequestLine *( requestHeader CRLF) CRLF messageBody where:RequestLine = Method SP RequestURI SP HTTPVersion CRLF SP = <US-ASCIISP, space (32)> CR = <US-ASCII CR, carriage return (13)> LF = <US-ASCIILF, linefeed (10)> Method = POST RequestURI =/servlet/abc.servletvirtualnumbers HTTPVersion = HTTP/1.1 messageHeader= fieldName “:” [ fieldValue ] messageBody = “<request>” CRLF *( “<”xmlFieldName “>” [ xmlFieldValue ] “</” xmlFieldName “>” CRLF )“</request>” CRLF xmlFieldName = “f_affiliateID” “f_requestType”** |“f_ID” | “f_phoneNumber1” | “f_phoneNumber2” | “f_expireDate” |“f_durationInDays” | “f_info” | “f_emailAddress” | “f_virtualnumber”xmlFieldValue = anySemanticData **f_requestType values may be: Allocate,Edit, Extend, SetSoldThe Example of the Well-Formed Request from the Client:

  POST /servlet/abc.servletvirtualnumbers HTTP/1.1 Host: www.abc.comConnection: close Content-Length: 271 Content-Type: text/xmlCache-Control: no-cache <request><f_affiliateID>TenantID</f_affiliateID><f_requestType>Allocate</f_requestType> <f_ID>AdvertID</f_adID><f_phoneNumber1>12345678</f_phoneNumber1><f_phoneNumber2></f_phoneNumber2> <f_expireDate>17102005</f_expireDate><f_durationInDays></f_durationInDays> <f_info>Car Sales</f_info><f_emailAddress></f_emailAddress> </request>

1-76. (canceled)
 77. A telecommunications method using atelecommunication system for enabling respondents to respond toadvertisements for items advertised by or on behalf of advertisers,comprising: allocating an anonymous contact identifier (ACI) from a poolof ACI's to an item to be advertised by or on behalf of an advertiser;storing said ACI; storing information related to said item to beadvertised; associating said ACI with a status, the status able to beupdated and corresponding to whether said item is available for sale ornot available for sale; storing said status; forwarding said ACI forprovision to respondents in association with one or more advertisementsfor said item; receiving a communication from a respondent to said ACI;and making the ACI available for allocating to a different item to beadvertised if the status indicates that the item associated with the ACIis not available for sale.
 78. The method of claim 77, furthercomprising: routing or forwarding the communication to said advertiserif the status indicates that the item associated with the ACI isavailable for sale; or providing a message to the respondent if thestatus indicates that the item associated with the ACI is not availablefor sale.
 79. The method of claim 78, further comprising, on allocatingan ACI to an item to be advertised, associating the ACI with aprescribed lifetime and, once the lifetime has expired, updating thestatus to indicate that the item associated with the ACI is notavailable for sale.
 80. The method of claim 77, further comprising, onallocating an ACI to an item to be advertised, associating the ACI witha prescribed lifetime and, once the lifetime has expired, updating thestatus to indicate that the item associated with the ACI is notavailable for sale.
 81. The method of claim 79, wherein the statuscorresponding to the item not being available for sale represents oneof: an indication that the item has been sold; and an indication thatthe prescribed lifetime of the allocation of the ACI to the item hasexpired.
 82. The method of claim 77, wherein, if the status associatedwith the ACI corresponds to the item not being available for sale, amessage is returned to the respondent in accordance with whether thestatus represents an indication that the item has been sold or anindication that a prescribed lifetime of the allocation of the ACI tothe item has expired.
 83. The method of claim 77, further comprising:storing a list of communication line identifiers (CLIs) of respondentswhich are to be precluded from access to the advertiser; on receiving acommunication from a respondent to the ACI, recognizing the CLI of therespondent; comparing the CLI with entries on the list of precludedCLIs; denying routing or forwarding of the communication to theadvertiser if the respondent's CLI is on the list; and allowing routingor forwarding of the communication to the advertiser if the respondent'sCLI is not on the list.
 84. The method of claim 77, further comprising:preparing one or more reports including information selected from thegroup of number of ACIs allocated from the pool of ACIs, number ofcommunications made to ACIs from the pool, length of communications madeto ACIs from the pool, and revenue accrued by communications made toACIs from the pool; and providing said one or more reports to anadvertiser or to a partner party representing one or more advertisers.85. The method of claim 77, further comprising: providing an advertiseror a partner party with an interface to the telecommunications systemenabling the advertiser or the partner party to modify the statusassociated with said ACI, the status serving to control whether or not areceived communication made to the ACI is routed or forwarded to theadvertiser of the item or to the partner party.
 86. The method of claim77, wherein the advertiser is a first advertiser, the method furthercomprising; providing, in response to receiving the communication fromthe respondent to the ACI, a promotional prompt for a second advertiserto the respondent, wherein the prompt includes contact details forcommunicating with the second advertiser, the prompt having beenselected in accordance with the stored information related to theadvertised item.
 87. The method of claim 86, further comprising:providing the promotional prompt for the second advertiser to therespondent before routing or forwarding the communication to said firstadvertiser is performed.
 88. A telecommunications system for enablingrespondents to respond to advertisements for items advertised by or onbehalf of advertisers, the system comprising: a repository containing apool of anonymous contact identifiers (ACIs); a first telecommunicationsunit configured to: receive as input an advertisement identifier andrelated advertiser contact details; receive as input status updaterequests; and forward as output, in response to receipt of theadvertisement identifier, an allocated ACI; an allocation unit toallocate an ACI from the repository to the advertisement identifier; adatabase for storing said allocated ACI in association with theadvertiser contact details and a status value; a status update unit toreceive as input from the first telecommunications unit status updaterequests and, to modify the stored status value in the database; asecond telecommunications unit to receive a communication made to theACI and to access on the database the stored status value and advertisercontact details; a communications routing or forwarding unit to route orforward the received communication in accordance with the storedadvertiser contact details and the stored status value; wherein thestatus value indicates whether an item associated with the advertisementidentifier is available for sale or not available for sale; and whereinif the status value indicates that the said item is not available forsale, the ACI is made available in the repository for allocating to adifferent item to be advertised.
 89. The system of claim 88, wherein theACI is a telephone number, the communication from a respondent to saidACI is a telephone call from a respondent caller dialing the telephonenumber, and the second telecommunications unit is a telephony unit. 90.The system of claim 88, wherein the ACI is an email address, thecommunication from a respondent to said ACI is an email message sentfrom a respondent to the email address, and the secondtelecommunications unit is an email receiving unit.
 91. The system ofclaim 88, wherein the status value corresponding to the item not beingavailable for sale represents one of: an indication that the item hasbeen sold; and an indication that a prescribed lifetime of theallocation of the ACI to the item has expired.
 92. The system of claim88, wherein the communications routing or forwarding unit is configuredto route or forward the communication to said advertiser if the statusvalue indicates that the item associated with the ACI is available forsale or to provide a message to the respondent if the status valueindicates that the item associated with the ACI is not available forsale.
 93. The system of claim 92, wherein, if the status value indicatesthat the item associated with the ACI is not available for sale, themessage to the respondent includes an indication that the item has beensold or an indication that a prescribed lifetime of the allocation ofthe ACI to the item has expired.
 94. The system of claim 88, wherein theadvertiser is a first advertiser, and wherein the secondtelecommunications unit is to select a promotional prompt for a secondadvertiser, that is selected in accordance with the stored informationrelated to the advertised item, and send the prompt to the respondent inresponse to receiving the communication made to the ACI, and wherein theprompt includes contact details for communicating with the secondadvertiser.
 95. The system of claim 94, wherein the database isconfigured to store contact details for the second advertiser andinformation associating the second advertiser with the advertised item.96. The system of claim 88, wherein one of the received status updaterequests includes instructions for extending a prescribed lifetime ofthe ACI.
 97. The system of claim 88, wherein one of the received statusupdate requests includes instructions for editing the stored advertisercontact details that are associated with the ACI.